Winston

Say hello to Winston-my new pet Garden Gnome. I have a neighbor who put out some pink flamingos this summer and at first I thought it was a joke but she left them out for weeks. I decided that I am going to combat her evil pink flamingos with something more evil-an army of creepy yard and garden gnomes. I will keep you posted on the battle as it unfolds.

Hulk

I haven't been on too many roller coasters but this one made me want to go on more. It was so much fun. I am not sure why they called it the "Hulk" cuz it didn't have much to do with him that I saw other than that they painted it green.

Islands of Adventure

I was lucky enough to get some training for work in Orlando, FL and this is a picture of my wife and Patti at Islands of Adventure. I had a great time there and I got quite a few hookups while I was there so the whole thing didn't cost much of anything. In the picture with Michele is Patti who I met at the training and she went with us to Islands of Adventure and Universal Studios.

Superstar

Check out the form. Before you know it she will be on the pro surfing tour-you just wait and watch.

Thanksgiving

My wife made an excellent Thanksgiving feast which I am finally posting after Christmas but better late than never. Too bad for her that she didn't get to eat any cuz I ate so fast and there was none left which explains my belly.

Mount Hood

This is my first trip skiing in a couple years as last year really sucked for snowfall. My skiing ability brought to mind a saying I read this weekend on despair.com. It says "If you can't learn to do something well, learn to enjoy doing it poorly". It's a really funny website so if you want to laugh, check it out.

Mt. Jefferson from Russell Lake

My bud Clarke and I hiked to Jefferson Park at the base of Mt. Jefferson. We hiked in from the Jefferson park trailhead about 5.5 miles to where we are at now. We met a couple along the way that had started hiking along the PCT trail from Mexico but becuase there was too much snow through California, they decided to fly to Canada and start from there and hike south. They said they were hiking around 20 miles a day and told me they met another guy who said he was hiking 40 a day. I think 5.5 was about all I could do even though Clarke wanted to go all the way to the top of Mt. Jefferson:)

Fall in the Cascades

I went up in the mountains to try to get some good pictures of the changing colors in the fall but unfortunately, I went up a couple weeks late and missed the best color or the season. It was still a pretty nice drive with some great views of the area.

North Sister, OR

One of the three sisters mountains in central Oregon. There are some amazing views in the mountains around this area. behind this mountain are located the other two sisters. To the north I could see Three Fingered Jack, Mt. Washington, and Mt. Jefferson. It was quite a spectacle.

Elk Lake, OR

Michele making friends at the lake. This was our first camping trip of the year. We didn't get to go camping together much this year but it was still quite fun. We took the raft up to the lake and Michele relaxed in the raft while I snorkelled around the lake.

American Fork Canyon, UT

Tiffany bravely climbing in American Fork Canyon. After Travis got married this summer in Utah, we decided to make the most of our weekend and do a bit of rock climbing in American Fork Canyon. I am not sure how many times Tiffany has been climbing before but she did an excellent job completeing this particular climb. All she required were some kind words of encouragement from her brothers:)

Travis's Wedding

La Grande, OR

For those who know about this picture, it will bring a good laugh just by looking at it. For those who don't, I guess I will share the truth with you because, while not nearly as manly as the lies I could write in here, it is certainly much more funny.

Some of my brothers plus a couple friends and I decided we would go rock climbing just outside La Grande, Oregon. I will be the first to say that I am not any sort of expert at rock climbing and due to in increase in my doughnut consumption and lack of physical activity, it was not that easy for me. This particular climb is not rated as being a very difficult climb and except for this particular part of the climb, I could easily agree with that rating. It was my third and last climb of the day. After several unsuccessful attempts at climbing this part using my own skill and strenght, I resorted to using the help of the other climbers. No, not by getting advise but by getting physical help. Clay(who is pictured in the right of the picture) let me borrow his back as a spring board and my brothers gave everything they had on the other end of the rope to pull up my 220 pound jelly filled powdered sugar coated body.

A great time was had by all and really I could have done it but I thought I would make the whole thing more memorable by allowing this to happen:) Unfortunately we were not able to get any pictures of it becuase everyone had their hands full helping me get started.

Marion Falls, OR

Michele and I hiked up here early in the year with some friends. The nice thing about these falls is that while the hike is relatively short and the falls are quite spectacular, we were the only ones there.

Later this year I went again with my friend Clarke as part of a three day camping trip we took together. We camped at nearby Marion Lake for two days and went fishing and hung out. We came to Marion Falls but it wasn't nearly as spectacular as there was less water going over the falls and it looked like pee colored sewer water so it really surprised me when Clarke filled his Nalgene bottle and took a drink(which for those of you who don't know what a nalgene bottle is-that just means you need to turn the tv off and do a little more hiking:) . Anyway, after spending a couple nights at Marion Lake and not catching nearly as many fish as I had hoped, we decided to hike out and spend a night at Breitenbush lake and hike to Jefferson Park the next day. For me, it ranks as one of the best hikes I have done in my life. It is an 11 mile round trip hike in which you almost rise above the tree line before dropping down into Jefferson Park where you can hike to several lakes at the base of Mt. Jefferson. The only thing that would make it a better hike would be if you could hike to the top of Mt. Jefferson without having to be an expert at mountaineering.

I would have included some pictures of Mt. Jefferson but I didn't take my digital camera with me so those photos will have to wait until next time I go or whenever I can convince Clarke to send me some of the pictures he took.

Seattle, WA

THE PIG!!!! (no, not me, the other pig) At Pike's Place Market. Somehow a symbol for the market?

As part of our three day vacation to Blaine Washignton, we visited Melain and Jonathan in Seattle. True to Seattle form, it started raining so we didn't get to see that much but we did have time to cruise Pike's Market to snap this photo with the pig that is apparantly famous. They also took us to an interesting museum that had all kinds of intersting artifacts including a mummy that Melain tried to kiss and a Jackelope(I will try to add those photos soon).

Blaine, WA

A beautiful bay near Blaine, Washington. This was our wonderful three day vacation up by Blaine Washington.